NEWS ARCHIVE

Once-popular cave gets makeover

Students get involved in Wonderland Cave cleanup

40/29s Jay Plyburn shows you the history and the scene os Arkansas' largest cave that will now be transformed into a tourist attraction.

Once-popular cave gets makeover

Students get involved in Wonderland Cave cleanup

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Updated: 8:06 PM CDT Jul 29, 2012

BELLA VISTA, Ark. —

The Wonderland Cave in Bella Vista has seen its share of excitement throughout the years.

Legend has it that Jesse James and his gang of thieves took shelter in the cave more than 100 years ago. Then, in the 1930s, the cave was turned into a nightclub, bringing in the biggest names in entertainment.

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The cave also served as a winery and a fallout shelter, and it's on the National Register of Historic Places, but it hasn’t been used for years.

"People have been breaking into this cave for years, vandalizing, spray painting, trashing, partying, everything you can image, they've been doing it in here," said Tommy Inebnit, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Inebnit, however, said a cleanup effort, funded through a grant, is underway, and a lot of youth are involved.

"We wanted to do this outreach event, and you want to do it in a location that has a lot of trash that needs to be picked up and that's easily accessible. This cave has very large rooms. It even has a walkway from when it used to be a commercial cave," Inebnit said.

"We were anxious to come get involved with this cave. We've done a lot of caving, fishing, rock climbing in our class, so we brought 26 kids out here to do a cave cleanup and get to explore a new cave," said Rogers High School outdoor education teacher Jeff Belk.

On Saturday, the Wonderland Cave became a classroom.

"There's a lot of teamwork and decision making, problem solving, that kind of character (building, educational) activities that go on in the cave, but there's also cave ecosystem exploration and understanding how important the ground water is and how we're attached to the surface and how things are affected that way," Belk said.

Property owner Mary Miller said they are cracking down on the vandalism.

"We've put steel bars up on the walls. We've put plywood up. We've reinforced it with chain link, and every single time we fix one hole, they make another," Miller said. "Now, we have the cooperation of the Bella Vista police and Benton County police. They're patrolling regularly."

Miller said people found in the cave without permission will be prosecuted.